Is this a dynasty in the making?

Siblings take sporting gene and run with it

September 21, 2003|By Chris McNamara, Special to the Tribune.

Don Homyk couldn't make Saturday's game to watch his son Zach; he was in Parma, Ohio, getting inducted to his high school's football Hall of Fame. But the veteran of Orange and Cotton Bowls as a quarterback for Penn State knew he'd prepared his kid for the game; they'd played ball practically every day for the last 14 years.

There's no cable television in the Homyk house. And there's no Nintendo. There is, however, a back yard that doubles as Wiffle ball stadium, basketball court, hockey rink and football field for the four Homyk kids and a good chunk of the youth in the family's Wildwood neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

And Don plays father, coach, inspirational guru and teammate. He'll pester his kids to invite friends over for a game, and he'll beg his wife to postpone dinner 10 more minutes when the game goes to overtime.

The Homyk team, er, family was raised in cleats and high tops. Bryce, 17, is a senior at St. Ignatius. There was no football when he was a freshman, so he took up volleyball. He played at the Junior Olympics last year. Drew, 16, who along with Zach led the Wildwood Park Packers to the Chicago Park District football championship at Soldier Field in 2001, picked pigskin and enrolled at Loyola Academy, where he plays on the sophomore team.

One of the `veterans'

Zach, 14, all of 5-4 and 100 pounds ("He's really only 99 pounds," Bev says), is one of the "veterans" on the Wolfpack freshman team; he had actually played organized football before.

And then there's the girl.

"Taylor can take a hit," says Don of his 8-year-old daughter, who wears a helmet around the house and enjoys chewing on her brothers' mouthguards. As the youngest child in the Homyk locker room, er, household, she's more interested in playing on the field than leading cheers from the sidelines--refusing to let age, size or gender get in the way of a touchdown.

"There are times when we have to remind her she's a girl," Bev says.

There's no question who passed down the athletic genes. Don played under Joe Paterno in the early '70s before an ACL injury ended his competitive career. Bev's sporting attempts, on the other hand, elicit laughter from her brood. But what she lacks on the field, court or rink she makes up for in enthusiasm. Like a photojournalist she captures each game with her camera, creating a photo album of Ignatius football. And like a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football, she provided play-by-play of last weekend's game via cell phone to Don while he was in Ohio.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much good news to report. The Knights of Providence-St. Mel were too big, too fast for the Wolfpack, who fell 28-0.

"It's like they are all wrestlers!" Zach moaned.

Zach has taken his share of hard hits. In a preseason practice, he broke his arm but "duked" through the pain and continued practicing. Days later, having been dragged to the hospital, he triumphantly rejoined his teammates.

"I have good news!" he shouted, holding aloft his arm in a cast. "I can play!" It's a story that head coach Tony Harris recalls with a chuckle.

But the Providence game was different. The Wolfpack's running game was stifled by an oversized defensive line. Ignatius turnovers led to Providence touchdowns. And No. 30, on one play, wished he were back playing with his kid sister. "I got buried on a kick return and couldn't see straight for a while," Zach said.

Win or lose, every outing is a thrill for the Homyks. But the big game is a couple of years away, in 2005 when the two brothers will face each other as members of their respective varsity teams--Zach as a junior with Ignatius, Drew as a senior at Loyola.

Zach is confident his Wolfpack will prevail. Drew, not surprisingly, thinks otherwise. He plans on not only winning but also sending a message to his kid brother. "I'll be seeking him out the whole game," Drew said.

By that time, Don probably will have picked up a new sport, Bev's photo album will be full, Bryce will be playing Olympic volleyball and Taylor will have founded a full-contact girls football league.

But that's a few years off. In the meantime, they'll probably squeeze in a few thousand back-yard games.